Similar Species No other swallow in North America shows such a deeply forked tail. Shorter-tailed juveniles in flight may suggest the tree swallow but will always show partial dark breast band and buff throat, white spots on tail.

Voice Call: in flight repeats a high-pitched, slightly squeaky chee-jit. Song: a long series of squeaky warbling phrases, interspersed with a nasal grating rattle.

Status and Distribution Common. Breeding: in various habitats in lowlands and foothills with nearby open areas and water. Former natural nesting locales, including caves and cliff faces, have now mostly been abandoned in favor of a variety of man-made structures, including barns. A cup-shaped bowl made entirely of mud and the bird’s saliva; 3–7 eggs (May–June). Migration: in spring, arrives in extreme southern United States. late January–early February, peaking in mid-May in northeastern United States. Early arrival in Alaska in mid-May. Departs northeastern United States. as early as mid-July, peaking late August–early September. Main routes through Central America and through Caribbean, but also a trans-Gulf migrant. Winter: often in fields and marshes mainly in lowlands; rarely in southern United States. Uncommon from Mexico south through Central America. Most common throughout South America as far as central Chile and northern Argentina; breeding noted in Buenos Aires. Vagrant: North American subspecies casual or accidental in western and northern Alaska, and Hawaii, southern Greenland, Tierra del Fuego, Falkland Islands. Eurasian subspecies (rustica) casual in western Alaska, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and southern Labrador. East Asian subspecies (gutturalis) casual in western Alaska and accidental in British Columbia.

Population Common worldwide. In North America, the breeding range has been expanded by using man-made structures for nesting.